Do order forecasting has a noticeable role in online business? Is that better to use order forecasting plugin ? If yes, which are the best forecasting plugins available in shopify app store ?
Topic summary
The discussion centers on whether order forecasting significantly impacts online business performance and which Shopify apps are most effective for this purpose.
Key Benefits Identified:
- Reduces stockouts by up to 65%, preventing missed sales
- Decreases excess inventory and associated warehousing costs by 10-40%
- Improves decision-making around product offerings, staffing, and expansion
- Enhances customer satisfaction through better product availability
Recommended Solutions:
Several app developers responded with their forecasting tools:
- Ikigai Labs: Machine learning-driven forecasting developed at MIT
- Replenish-Me: Uses algorithms to plan stock orders, right-size inventory, and auto-generate purchase orders
- Prediko: Offers multi-SKU forecasting with published case studies
A Shopify representative also provided official documentation and blog resources explaining demand forecasting fundamentals. The consensus is that forecasting is crucial for merchants managing their own inventory, helping answer strategic questions about expansion, product lines, and resource allocation. The discussion remains open for the original poster to clarify their specific needs.
Hi there, @vishnusb !
When it comes to forecasting your orders, we have a great help document that helps you through this process. The document I linked above will give you the following information:
I also found a great blog post that goes over some great tips about demand forecasting that is also worth looking at.
Demand forecasting is the process of projecting future revenue and which products shoppers will buy using quantitative and qualitative data. It helps you make smart decisions about your product offering, inventory, staffing, and marketing. Without demand forecasting, you’re at the risk of making costly mistakes. You might have questions that are hard to answer without demand forecasting, such as:
- Would opening a new brick-and-mortar location be a huge gamble?
- I want to invest in offering a new product line; how can I check if customers want it?
- How well will my store operate three years down the line?
- How many employees do I need to hit my sales and revenue goals? Will I be able to afford them?
Definitely let me know how this information applies to what you are looking for. The same goes for the apps/plugins you are looking for. Once we know more about what you are wanting to achieve, we can dig deeper and see what apps will help you in this!
Looking forward to hearing more from you!
Hi @vishnusb ,
Depends if you hold your own inventory or not but yes forecasting can play a major role in various aspects of your biz. Good forecasting can reduce missed sales due to stockouts by 65%, reduce cash tied up in excess inventory, 10-40% cost reduction in warehousing costs & increase customer satisfaction by always having the product they want available.
We’re a machine learning driven forecasting tool out of MIT, if you want to look into this more shoot me an email! alex@ikigailabs.io
Hi @vishnusb
From my experience as a merchant, forecasting is crucial. That’s why we designed Replenish-Me. We utilise a powerful algorithm to plan future stock orders and right size your store’s inventory. It also auto-populates purchase orders ready to send off to your suppliers. Check it out here… https://apps.shopify.com/replenish-me
Reach out if you’re interested in chatting it through.
Cheers,
Mark
ReplenishMe
Yup! It does. I work for a Shopify app called Prediko. We wrote a very detailed guide on forecasting for mutliple SKUs on Shopify. There are case studies in it on how brands have leveraged it successfully to forecast inventory requirements.